1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hands-free communication devices and more specifically to a flexible lightweight and comfortable communication device which is suitable for fitting over one or both ears and is manufactured with a minimal number of components. The communication device may operate as a sound receiver only and provide an audible output. Alternatively, the device may also include a microphone and operate both as a receiver and transmitter of sound.
Consequently, the device is suitable for uses with a telephone network, a computer having voice synthesis and/or voice recognition capabilities as well as other systems which receive and/or generate an audible output.
In addition, two of the devices of this invention, one for each ear, may be provided so as to receive biaural or stereo sound.
The invention also relates to a new manufacturing paradigm or approach that substantially reduces the time consuming and labor intensive assembly of a large number of components.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 AND 1.98
There has been a need for hands-free communication devices at least as early as the early telephone. For example, early telephone operators were required to make connections between one or more callers by manually connecting jumper cables between the appropriate circuits. These early operators wore heavy headsets which included a headband to support at least one earpiece next to the operator""s ear. The equipment itself, along with the necessary wiring, was so heavy that the earliest telephone operators also wore a separate microphone supported in front of the operator""s mouth by its own neckband.
Eventually, the earpieces and the microphone as well as the wiring were reduced in size and weight so that the microphone could be maintained in front of the user""s mouth by a cantilever boom extending from the headband or the earpiece to a location in front of the operator""s mouth. Efforts have continued to further reduce size and weight such that today the headband can be eliminated such that the conductors, the earpiece, the cantilever boom and mouthpiece may simply be supported by hanging over the ear. In addition, because of miniaturization of components for some uses, signals can be provided by radio waves so that the connecting wiring can be eliminated altogether and replaced by a small lightweight antenna. An example of a prior art device includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,602 issued to Paul L. Regen and Marv Tseu on Mar. 2, 1993. This patent discloses a telephone headset apparatus for use with an existing cellular telephone. The headset is connected to the handset portion of the telephone system. A feature of the headset apparatus ensures that normal handset operation of the telephone system does not effect the use of the headset itself. In addition, the handset may remain resting in a cradle even while the headset is in operation.
Another device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,792 issued on May 11, 1993 to Kazuhiko Kajihara and discloses an ear-hang type headset which includes a microphone attached to the forward end of a microphone arm or boom, and a base portion which is connected at the other end of the microphone arm or boom. An ear hanger formed in a shape conformable to the outer periphery of the ear and an earphone formed in a shape receivable in the ear and having a receiving unit are connected to the microphone arm base. The ear hanger and the earphone are made to be rotatable with respect to the microphone arm base so that the earphone and the ear hanger can be located at the entrance of the ear and the outer periphery of the ear respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,944, issued May 26, 1998, to Finn Jensen and Steve McGugan discloses a telephone headset which includes a body having a microphone at one end and a transducer at the opposite end. An ear hook is used to attach the apparatus to the ear of the operator. The mechanism is located and balanced such that the headset apparatus remains properly balanced and within the sound envelope of an operator for uninterrupted operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,659, issued Sep. 22, 1998, to Daniel W. Mauney, et al. discloses an ear-mounted microphone device configured for being supported in the ear. The microphone device includes a microphone element contained within a housing which is configured at one end to be mounted at a user""s ear canal. When the housing is so mounted, the microphone element is positioned closely adjacent to the user""s head such that the housing and the user""s head cooperatively alter the sensitivity of the microphone. This arrangement provides an enhanced directional orientation and sensitivity of the microphone element towards the user""s mouth to a greater degree than is provided when the housing and microphone element are not mounted at the ear canal. A speaker element may be included within the ear device and can be decoupled mechanically so as to avoid feedback. The system can operate with full duplex and thereby enable hands-free communication and direct voice commands by the user through computer modems, telephone networks and other communication systems.
With the exception of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,659 patent, a review of the above referenced patents clearly indicates that although hands-free headsets have been made smaller and now weigh significantly less, the same basic apparatus and design approach is still being used. That is, a device made of a significant number of parts and has an earpiece which is either supported by a headband or is balanced and supported by the upper ear. In addition, a sound pick-up boom extending to a point adjacent the user""s mouth may be connected to the earpiece. The pick-up boom may support a miniature microphone at the end of the boom with wires traveling to structure proximate the ear. Alternately, the boom may simply be a hollow tube providing an enclosed air path from the mouth area of a user to a microphone included in the structure proximate the ear. Although the device of the ""659 patent does describe embodiments which have substantially eliminated the voice pick-up boom, the device is still manufactured with a large number of components. The patent also discloses a more recent approach of supporting the communication device either in the inner ear canal or by ear tissue surrounding and approximate the ear canal.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lightweight comfortable sound receiving device.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a lightweight, comfortable communication device which both receives and transmits sound.
It is another object of the invention to provide an easily manufactured and simplified communication device.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a communication device suitable for use as human-to-machine interface between the wearer of the device and any one of a selection of systems such as, but not limited to, telephone systems, cellular telephone systems, computer systems and music systems.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a simplified and improved method for fabricating communication devices.
The above-mentioned objects and other objects are achieved by the present invention which comprises methods and apparatus for providing an ultra light and substantially flat hands-free communication device, including but not limited to earphones or a headset. The apparatus includes a planar or flat flexible support member, and a flexible printed circuit bonded to or integral with the planar flexible support member. The flat flexible support member preferably has xe2x80x9cmemoryxe2x80x9d so that if it is distorted so as to fit over an ear it will spring back or return to its original shape. There is also included an input connection for receiving signals having a sound or audible content which is connected to the flexible printed circuit. The input connection could be a wire suitable for connecting to telephone circuitry or to a computer, such as, for example, a connection to a USB (Universal Serial Buss). Alternately, the system may be wireless such that the input connection is to an antenna. The device is also clearly compatible for use with the new short range connection technology and protocols referenced to as xe2x80x9cBlue Toothxe2x80x9d. It will be appreciated that other technology and protocols for wireless systems are equally applicable as the xe2x80x9cBlue Toothxe2x80x9d technology.
The flexible printed circuit may, for a simple headset and microphone embodiment, xe2x80x9cprocessxe2x80x9d the received signals by simply providing printed conductor paths and connections for the headset and microphone signals. Alternately, if the communication device of this system is a much more complex integral telephone or a human/machine interface embodiment with voice recognition and voice synthesis the printed circuit may include a microprocessor which processes the received signals having the sound content according to an elaborate algorithm and generates output electrical signals representative of the processed sound content. Thus, when used to describe the present invention, the phrase xe2x80x9csignal processingxe2x80x9d is intended to cover a range of operations from the simple routing of electrical signals from one connection point to another connection point to elaborate signal recovery, decoding and demultiplexing processes.
A sound generation device such as a speaker receives the output electrical signals which have the sound or audible content regardless of the xe2x80x9csignal processingxe2x80x9d and generates an audible sound representative of the sound content. It should be understood that the flexible printed circuit may be bonded to the planar flexible support member, or alternately, the planar flexible support member and the flexible printed circuit could comprise a single integral planar flexible member. It should also be understood that electronic components may be electrically connected or mounted to the printed circuit, or alternately may be manufactured as an integral part of the printed circuit.
According to a preferred embodiment, the planar flexible support member will have a selected size and a selected perimeter outline and also include a slot or separation line which follows a selected path to extend between two end points which divide the planar flexible support member into two portions. At least one of the two end points is wholly within the perimeter outline such that the two portions remain attached to each other. In a preferred embodiment, both of the two end points are within the perimeter outline so as to define a slot having a selected shape. The flexibility of the support member allows for the two portions to be further separated or spread from each other such that one of the portions may be located so as to cover at least a portion of a human ear and the other one of the two portions fits behind the ear. Consequently, it is important that the flexible printed circuit which is either bonded to or integral with the support member not prevent further spreading of the two portions at the selected cut or separation line.
The communication device of this invention is suitable for many purposes and consequently, as mentioned above, the printed circuit may simply be printed electrical conductors, or may include circuitry for processing signals which have a sound content provided from a selected group of devices or sources such as computers, telephones, radio receivers and microphones. In those instances where the communication device is used as a two-way or bidirectional communication device, there will further be included a microphone or other sound pick-up device either proximate the printed circuit or at the end of a boom. In a typical fashion, the microphone receives audible sounds and generates electrical signals representative of the received audible sounds.
According to other embodiments of the invention, the device may receive, process and display signals with a visual content, and may also incorporate various flexible or semi-flexible electronic components including but not limited to key pads, solar or photoelectric cells, batteries, micro-displays, etc.